


The Office

by citizen-of-the-multiverse (threenimonsongallifrey)



Category: Doctor Who & Related Fandoms, Gallifrey (Big Finish Audio)
Genre: Classic Who Secret Santa, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-24
Updated: 2017-12-24
Packaged: 2019-02-19 20:52:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,826
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13131963
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/threenimonsongallifrey/pseuds/citizen-of-the-multiverse
Summary: Romana and Narvin have long since ended whatever rivalry they once had and yet they need to start a new chapter of their lives while they actually work together.  Or at least attempt to work together.





	The Office

**Author's Note:**

  * For [President Romana (asoldandtrueasthesky)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/asoldandtrueasthesky/gifts).



> This is my entry for presidentromana in the classicwhosecretsanta. The prompt was Romana/Narvin + adjusting to their new jobs after Enemy Lines and it's not exactly shippy, but I hope you enjoy it!

Narvin was tired, simply tired.  He had worked for decades to create a functional and trustworthy (well more trustworthy than before) Celestial Intervention Agency during Gallifrey’s reconstruction, he had actually created something good in the universe..  All he wanted to do was to sit down and do actual work, but Narvin stopped after entering his office because Romana was sitting at his desk, “Did you need something?” he asked.

Romana looked up, “No…”

“Then what are you doing in the office?” Narvin asked, although he felt as though he wouldn’t appreciate the answer.

Romana looked like a cross between apologetic and stern, “Narvin, in case it has slipped your mind, this is the Coordinator of the CIA’s office-”

“Yes, I have been coming here every day for the past few centuries.”

“-and in case it has slipped your mind, I am Coordinator of the CIA.”  The penny dropped.  Maybe Narvin hadn’t quite realized before that things were actually changing around the Agency, that he was no longer Coordinator.  Narvin didn’t like change.

So the only thing reasonable that Narvin could possibly do was resist any change, “And I have been using this office for _three hundred years_.  Do you know how many decades I spent finding the correct organizational systems?  The amount of uncomfortable chairs I went through?  The-”

“Fine!” Romana shouted, “We’ll just have to compromise on this.  Let’s share the office, there’s plenty of room, we’ll just have to find another desk.”

~ ~ ~

One week later, things weren’t looking positive.

“Stop.”

“Stop what?” Romana asked incredulously.

“The tapping,” Narvin said through gritted teeth.

“I’m not _tapping_ anything,” Romana said before she looked down at her fingers and found that she was indeed tapping them.

Narvin gave her a look.  Romana for once thought it best not to even try to respond and five minutes later continued to tap her fingers much to Narvin’s annoyance.

“The tapping,” Narvin reminded her again.

“If I can put up with your organizational systems, you can put up with the tapping,” Romana said.

“I’m organized and your being a- a- nuisance.”

Romana sighed, “No, being a nuisance is when I can’t set a pen on my desk without you trying to file it in a cabinet.”

Narvin gestured at his spotless office, “It prevents clutter!  And clutter prevents optimum productivity.”

“There’s a fine line between a functional workspace without clutter and some sort of weird bureaucratic nightmare and you’ve gone far past that line,” Romana exclaimed.

“Well you’re more than welcome to find a new office,” Narvin innocently suggested.

Romana stared directly into Narvin’s eyes and began tapping her fingers faster, “And so are you.”

It was a standoff.  Neither side was likely to give in.

~ ~ ~

Early next morning Romana walked into the office, and was greeted with an empty wall, “Narvin.  Desk?” she questioned.

“Hm?  What about it?” Narvin didn’t look up from his paperwork.

Romana somewhat less than calmly walked over and said, “As in, where the hell is my desk?!”

Narvin looked up, “Oh yes, I forgot about that.  It was a weird accident, I was reorganizing the furniture and someone stole it.”

“Odd that,” Romana said flatly.

“Yes, it is.”

~ ~ ~

“Hey, Leela!” Ace shouted as she ran down the corridor to catch up with Leela.

Leela turned around, “Ace?  Is something wrong?”

“Well not really, but it’s about Romana and Narvin,” Ace said, catching her breath.

“Ah, so you’ve noticed too?” Leela asked.

“That they’re getting along about as well as fire and water?  Yeah I think the whole Agency has noticed by now.”

Leela continued to walk, “They’ve always fought often, it’s nothing new.”

“And at this rate, the CIA will be run into the ground in a month.  What happens if there’s some giant disaster?  Then we’re all screwed unless they can figure out how to work together.”

Leela paused, considering the problem at hand, “… Yes, I do see your point.  Come on, I have a plan.”

“A plan for what?” Ace asked.

“A plan to make Narvin and Romana friends again,” Leela said.

~ ~ ~

As the battle over the office waged on, both sides reluctantly retreated to their separate quarters to do paperwork.  Narvin found the arrangement manageable but also far from optimum as he somewhat inconveniently happened to live across the Citadel from the CIA tower, as did Romana, and was forced to conduct most communications with agents over com systems.  Narvin knew in the back of his mind that if this rivalry continued, the stability of the CIA may be compromised which he again knew was an incredibly stupid way to weaken the Agency, but it was too late for Narvin to surrender.

Just as Narvin was considering exactly how he could potentially move the entire CIA headquarters to his apartment before there was a knock at his door.  That was suspicious- no one ever knocks on his door and very few people know where he lives in the first place.  Narvin was careful to pocket a staser before moving towards the door and opening it, but there was no one there.  Correction: there was a piece of paper.

“Who’s still using paper around here?” Narvin wondered aloud, but picked it up anyways and began to read it.

 

_Dear Narvin,_

_I recognize that I was being unreasonable and difficult these past few weeks and I would like to apologize.  In order for the Agency to succeed, we need to work together and cooperate.  So I suggest we bury the hatchet and start again since it seems the only way to move forward._

 

Narvin was actually shocked when he read the letter because when had he ever known Romana to actually apologize for something which either meant that she recognized the severity of the situation… or she didn’t actually write this note.  Narvin was hopeful, but he knew which was actually more likely.

~ ~ ~

The next day, Narvin made the bold move of actually coming to his office in hopes of actually being able to work with Romana.  However they were relatively small hopes.  Yet he found Romana calmly sitting in the office with a cup of tea.

“Morning,” she said as Narvin sat down.

Narvin was about to actually get some work done for once but Romana continued to talk, “I know that your letter said that we should just move on and I agree with that, but just know that I really appreciate you apologizing for your actions…”

“Hold on, _my_ letter?” Narvin asked, “You were the one who apologized.”

“I knew you would never actually use paper!  And for the record, I don’t have anything to apologize for,” Romana said.

“Yes and I knew you are far too self-absorbed to actually recognize you were the one in the wrong.”

“ _I_ was in the wrong.  Who was it that moved my desk to the other end of the Capitol?” Romana questioned.

Narvin’s face began to become redder, “And who was it that encased my data pad in jello?”

“Well you started it!” Romana accused.

“Oh this started long before the desk…”

“So when exactly did it begin because I guarantee that I never started anything.”

“For the record, I do actually have a list!” Narvin exclaimed, pointing at what indeed was a list of arguments that he and Romana had over the years.

~ ~ ~

Ace would have been listening at the door except for the fact that Romana and Narvin were yelling so loudly that actually standing at the door would have been rather unnecessary and was instead talking to Leela down the hall.  “I knew the letter thing wasn’t going to work out.”

“Yes,” Leela agreed, “But we have to do something, we can’t just let this go on.”

Ace smiled, thinking of an idea that could actually work, “Leela- I don’t suppose you know how to lock that office door shut?”

In response, Leela simply walked over to the control panel and cut a few wires with her knife and took a step back, “How will locking the door help?”

“Well hopefully if they’re in there for long enough, they’ll talk about their feelings or something,” Ace hoped.

“This will work?”

Ace shrugged nonchalantly, “Well it always worked on TV.”

~ ~ ~

“Yes well if you’re going to bring up the temporal summit, I might as well just leave!” Romana turned to open the door only to find that the panel wasn’t working.

“Problem?  Or can’t you even competently open a door?” Narvin snidely remarked.

Romana shot him a look, “No, the door panel isn’t working.”

“Well let me try,” Narvin walked over and pressed the button again.  Nothing.

“You know it might surprise you, but I am actually capable of pressing a button,” Romana said, “Come on, we might be able to pry open the door itself.”

Several minutes of pushing and prying yielded nothing.

“It’s a shame these doors were built to withstand a direct nuclear assault,” Romana commented, as she finally gave up and sat down, pulling out her datapad as well.

“Yes I would so much prefer to be dead than stuck in here right now,” Narvin replied sarcastically.  “What are you doing?”

“Trying to message Leela to see if she can open the door from the outside,” Romana paused, “Or not.”

“What?” Narvin asked.

Romana showed him the message on the datapad that Leela sent that said she wouldn’t let them out until they worked out “their feelings”.

Narvin rolled his eyes, “Is she serious?”

“Apparently,” Romana sighed.  “We should though.”

“We should what?”

“Talk.  About our…” Romana sighed, “feelings.  I mean we both know that whatever argument we’re having is about far more than just an office.”

Narvin didn’t really know how to respond to that so Romana just continued to talk, “I really should have talked to you about this arrangement before appointing myself as Coordinator.  It was inconsiderate, but I just thought we were working together well beforehand so why would anything change?  I thought that because…”

“Because we’re friends?” Narvin suggested.

“Well yes.  I thought that we would be able to work together, but at this rate the Agency will collapse in a few months.”

Narvin nodded, “I’ve noticed.  And I’m sorry I was making such a big deal about the office, it’s just…  I’ve been Coordinator of the CIA for centuries, I rebuilt the Agency once we came back from the Axis and I’ve gotten too used to being the single authority figure around here.  I just wasn’t ready to be a deputy of anything again.”

“Then how about you can be my equal instead of my deputy?” Romana suggested.

Narvin gave some sort of a half-smirk, “You know Co-Coordinator sounds like an incredibly stupid title?”

“I suppose so.”

“And you know we’re inevitably going to fight over something?”

“The arguing is why I keep you around, Narvin,” Romana said with a smile.  “Come on, you can have the office, let’s get on with some actual work before Gallifrey inevitably explodes without us.”


End file.
